Supplements to Increase Stamina and Strength for Running

How can you get more energy for running? A good approach is with nootropics, which are health supplements to increase stamina and strength by delivering brain energy which transcends into physical energy.

There is a strong-standing case that if you feel good mentally, you feel even better physically. One way to boost running endurance is to give yourself more physical energy by giving yourself more mental/brain energy because if you are mentally exhausted, or brain foggy this could translate into sluggish running performance.

I think its important to consider certain health supplements, like nootropics, that act on the brain to deliver real energy to the body via stimulating mental focus and concentration, so that you get an enhanced supply of lasting-energy for running.

Supplements to Increase Stamina and Strength for Running

The evidence tells us that when you feel great, you perform great and this is where nootropic energy supplements come in because they can make you go farther. In that regard, below I have listed nootropic supplements that suppress mental fatigue, getting you more energetically engaged, leading to stronger efforts for running.

Curcumin

When stress arises, but running can’t curb it, curcumin was found to dismantle stressful mood and depression, making you feel sunnier for running, which is key for good running performance. Curcumin can help you rise to the challenge of hard training by opposing depression-like symptoms. According to research in Phytotherapy Research, taking at least 500-mg of curcumin per day pushes back on depression as effectively as 20-mg of Prozac without nasty side-effects. The specifics about how curcumin works to boost mood is that it reduces inflammation in the brain linked to depression and it also beefs up the function of mood-enhancing neurons (brain cells).

Tocotrienols

Tocotrienol is a form of vitamin E and according to Asian researchers, taking 50-mg of tocotrienol energizes brain cells, making you more clear-headed, mentally sharper, less groggy, which necessitates sustainable energy for running the long haul. Furthermore, the journal Stroke reported that tocotrienols keeps you revved for hours by enriching blood circulation in the brain via keeping the brain’s blood vessels healthy, flexible and most importantly, it clears away plaque. In fact, the study found that tocotrienol may reduce your risk of stroke by 25%! So, if you have an appetite for more brain energy, you have no better friend than tocotrienol!

Phosphatidylserine (PS)

PS is a soybean extract and is especially important for not only delivering more energy, but for the maintenance of brain health. PS is an essential building block of healthy functioning, resilient brain cells, and according research from UCLA, PS boosted focus and mental acuity by 30% which catalyzes sustainable energy for running. What is more, according to British researchers, PS boosted energy levels by 55%, making you more ambitious for running, which will inevitability lead you to better results.

Ginkgo

Ginkgo has been at the forefront for elevating mood to unprecedented levels. A well-known scenario for many who are depressed is a lack of physical energy, which isn’t always the best forecast for advancing running progress.

To make you mentally stronger, ginkgo is very effective at shifting mood from sad to happy, so you can easily increase your mileage more effortlessly, not just in running, but in everything you do!

Ginkgo behaves more as a natural anti-depressant that puts you in a better state of mind, getting you more encouraged for running. In that regard, ginkgo can have an enormously positive influence on running performance simply because you perform entirely different if you are happy vs if you are depressed as depression can be a real physical burden for many.

According to Canadian researchers, ginkgo makes you happier and motivated by reducing stress hormones in the brain. Ginkgo was also found to reduce blue moods and depressive symptoms by nearly 80%. Therefore, the evidence re-affirms that with ginkgo, you will start to feel great, automatically, which is critical for running performance because you tend to give a lot more when you’re happier and revved-up.

Additionally, British researchers discovered that ginkgo increased focus and concentration by 95%, so again, ginkgo is a very potent nootropic that instantly revitalizes mood, putting you on a steady course for making more progress in running.

Vitamin B-12

Another spark to ignite good mood, satisfaction and thus energy, is with vitamin B-12. Many studies have found that taking AT LEAST 1,000-mcg of vitamin B-12 daily, enhances focus, concentration and overall mental energy! If your energy is running low, vitamin B-12 can really get you juiced for running.

ALCAR (acetyl-L-cartine)

ALCAR is an amino acid that dramatically improves mood, energy focus and concentration by stimulating sleepy brain cells. ALCAR was also found to work similarly to ginkgo in that ALCAR reverses and improves depressive symptoms, setting you in a confident direction to run better.

Ginseng

Ginseng combats fatigue by improving mental alertness and mental energy at the same level as coffee, helping increase your efforts by giving you the best motivation for running.

Guarana

Guarana contains key brain-energizing compounds, choline and theobromine, which works in a similar fashion to caffeine in that they usher in more energy by welcoming in more oxygen and blood to the brain. In short, guarana sharpens focus and mental energy by increasing blood flow and oxygen to the brain, which in this regard, there is no better way to jump-start your running performance.

Rhodiola Rosea

According to research out of Columbia University, taking 500-mg of rhodiola rosea a day increased mental energy by increasing the production of the happy, mood-uplifting hormone, serotonin. The main mechanism of action of rhodiola rosea is that it allows serotonin to linger around in the brain longer, which produces lasting positive mood and brain energy. This is why rhodiola rosea is a mental health treasure because it increases serotonin which is a driving force for more motivation, encouragement, excitement which puts you on a good path to run and perform more optimally at your highest level.

Garlic

Taking 400-mg of garlic supplements in the morning can flood your brain with energy as garlic was found to boost mental alertness and expand mental energy to last all day long

If you consider any one of these energetic nootropic health supplements, you will never have a shortage of energy for running.

Your confidence plays a big role in determining your success as a runner, and certain health supplements, like the nootropics I listed above, shape how you feel because of reasons of having to do with either increasing serotonin, or by stimulating the flow of nutrient-rich blood and oxygen to the brain. Because mental fatigue, especially when chronic, can be debilitating and can certainly interfere with your running performance, I see these types of healthy nootropic supplements as a passport to better performance opportunity!

BSc Neurobiology; MSc Biomechanics candidate, ultra minimalist runner & founder of RunForefoot. I was a heel striker, always injured. I was inspired by the great Tirunesh Dibaba to try forefoot running. Now, I'm injury free. This is why I launched Run Forefoot, to advocate the health & performance benefits of forefoot running and to raise awareness on the dangers of heel striking, because the world needs to know.